Day 10: Testimony: No special treatment for Riley

A key government witness in the corruption trial of former Newark Mayor Sharpe James said yesterday that Tamika Riley was flamboyant and flirtatious, but also earned respect around City Hall and was treated the same as any other developer.

Federal prosecutors put Basil Franklin, Newark's former housing director, on the stand for two days, seeking to prove James rigged the sale of city-owned land to Riley, now his co-defendant, because she was James' girlfriend.

Defense attorneys sought to counter that during several hours of cross examination yesterday. Franklin said Riley paid the same price as other developers in a city redevelopment program - $2,000 per unit. And he said that while Riley didn't have development experience, she was upfront about that fact and put together a team, the same way other developers without experience did to become qualified.

"Sharpe James did nothing whatsoever to steer these properties to Tamika Riley, is that correct?" asked Thomas Ashley, James' lead attorney.

"That's correct," Franklin replied.

Franklin also said he had a "very flirtatious relationship" with Riley. He said he once complained to her that he hadn't visited his native country - Guyana - in 25 years and she said she could help. He said he accepted an $800 ticket from her, but later felt uncomfortable about it and gave it to someone else.

"I wanted to give it back, but it never happened," he said under questioning from Gerald Krovatin, Riley's attorney.

While it was prosecutors who first asked about the plane ticket, defense attorneys followed up in an apparent attempt to suggest to jurors that Franklin may have had his own motivations for assisting Riley, a 38-year-old publicist.

Franklin was a city employee for 26 years and is the highest-ranking official to testify in the case before U.S. District Judge William Martini in Newark. He reviewed and approved developers under a program in which city land was sold cheaply without competition to candidates who were required to rehabilitate the property.

Federal prosecutors say James, 72, arranged for Riley to buy nine city parcels between 2001 and 2005 because they were having a romantic relationship. She later resold them for more than $600,000 in profits. They allege she was unqualified to serve as a developer because she had no experience and shaky finances. James and Riley both have pleaded not guilty and denied any wrongdoing.

Prosecutors hope Franklin's testimony will help them refute a cornerstone of James' defense: that he couldn't have arranged lucrative land deals for Riley because, as mayor, he lacked authority to sell city land. That authority ultimately rests with the city council, the defense contends.

Last week, under questioning by federal prosecutors, Franklin said he first met Riley in 1999, when James' deputy for economic development brought her to his office, saying the mayor wanted Franklin to help her buy city-owned land.

He said he was later ordered by another superior to stop dealing with Riley, around a time when prosecutors say the mayor had halted land sales to Riley as part of a lovers quarrel. Franklin said that at one point, James admonished him for supposedly suggesting to Riley that James had ordered the freeze.

Prosecutors yesterday continued their attempt to show jurors that James wielded considerable control over city land deals. Under questioning from Assistant U.S. Attorney Judith Germano, Franklin said James put city land deals for Jackie Mattison, his disgraced ex-chief of staff, on hold in 2002 because he was worried about criticism during his tough re-election fight.

Mattison was released from prison after serving nearly three years on bribery charges and went on to win city contracts to buy cheap city-owned land under a redevelopment program.

But James faced criticism about cronyism in the months leading up to his May 2002 re-election battle against then-councilman Cory Booker.

Franklin testified yesterday that prior to the election, James summoned him to his City Hall office, closed the door, and ordered him to put Mattison's land contracts on hold until after the election. Immediately after the election, "I was asked by the then-director to repackage the contracts and send them up to city council for approval."

Mattison and his partners would later go on to buy more than 100 city lots.

At one point, while the jury was dismissed, the judge read from a transcript of Franklin's grand jury testimony about the meeting. He did so as attorneys argued over how much of it jurors in the trial should be allowed to hear.

James, according to the transcript, told Franklin he'd been confronted by city council members who'd heard rumors that Mattison was charging people $5,000 per lot for access to city land deals.

"Damn it, Basil," James said, according to Franklin. "The talk is about, you know, if you want property you have to go to Jackie Mattison."

Ashley, James' lead attorney, said the grand jury testimony implied James may have been involved, but that "nothing could be further from the truth." He added, "It would be a sad day, your honor, when rumors, admitted rumors, become evidence in federal court." Krovatin joined in the objection.

Martini knocked out any reference to the $5,000 or rumors about Mattison's influence in city deals. But he allowed mention of the meeting, saying it showed James' ability to control the timing of contracts.